A therapeutic riding program at one of Brookfield's most historic sites has closed, and the property owners are exploring options to sell.

Elm Hill Center at the historic Elm Hill Farm has been home to the Rehabilitative Resources therapeutic riding program since 2009. The nonprofit, which is based in Sturbridge, runs residential and community day programs for disabled people and, its new CEO said, the cost of operating at Elm Hill Center was becoming a burden.

The facility has been losing more than $100,000 each year, and that number has been growing annually.

“It pains us,” CEO Michael Coughlin said. “I've been here about six weeks, and the last thing I wanted to do was give this kind of news.”

But to continue running a program that was losing so much money would have eventually affected other programs, he explained, and so the board decided to close the riding program effective Feb. 2.

“There are other riding programs in the area,” Mr. Coughlin said, adding that he's hopeful clients who had been using the Elm Hill Center will be able to transfer to those programs.

Rehabilitative Resources is looking into selling the 30 acres it owns along with three houses, barns and other outbuildings, but, Mr. Coughlin said, some options are off the table and that includes selling the land to a developer.

That was good news to Ronald Couture of the Brookfield Historical Commission, who spent 15 years creating the archives that contain 200 years of history of the five families, most prominently the Blanchard-Means, who lived on the property.

Mr. Couture said the property, including the mansion house, was not in the best shape when Rehabilitative Resources moved in.

“It needed a lot of upgrading and they put the upgrading in,” he said. “They did a wonderful job. There are thousands of volunteer hours in there. There are two Eagle Scout projects that were done there.”

While the farm might be best known for producing Elsie the cow, a registered Jersey heifer that served as mascot for the Borden Co., she is a small part of the farm's history.

There were Revolutionary War veterans living at the farm, “Great Gatsby”-like parties at the mansion, elaborate gardens, and herds of the nation's best cows that provided milk for the Army. “It's the backbone of Brookfield history,” Mr. Couture said.

Some of the family's collection went to Old Sturbridge Village. Mr. Coughlin said he will speak with officials there about the archives and for guidance about the property.

He's hopeful another nonprofit might be able to make its operation work at the site.

Mr. Couture said there is a need to keep the heritage farm working. Hay is gathered from the fields, but at one time the family's apple orchard was famous — each piece of fruit hand picked, wrapped and labeled and sold in New York.

His vision includes an educational component, maybe a college where students could make use of Abby Blanchard-Means' meticulous garden journals, which include about 60 years of day-to-day notes.

A dormitory could be made in the mansion house, he believes.

The property is listed by Massachusetts Preservation as one of the state's most endangered historic resources for 2012.

The farm is not officially on the market, and Mr. Coughlin admits it could take years to find the right buyer.

Contact Kim Ring at kring@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @kimmring

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